Falling out with PC

[FrozenRope]

Your DD was having a bad day. It happens. Trying to force a kid into a good day usually has an opposite outcome.

FR, is your daughter in pitching shape? You said she ran out of gas before the normal lesson time expired. Was she physically drained from swimming or some other activity before heading to the lesson? I've had kids show up who look physically exhausted at the start of the lesson because they were doing something before they arrived at the lesson. If that's not the case then how long do you have your daughter work when you're practicing? You may want to try to slowly increase the length of the practice sessions to increase her stamina.

She didn't run out of gas during the typical 45 minutes she's supposed to get. She was OK up to that point, and not having that bad of a lesson. I think I mentioned it, but the fatigue set in at about the hour mark.

Shes about average as far as physical condition. She does do some conditioning...just not crazy.

 

[FrozenRope]

FR you say she works 4-5 nights a week outside of lessons and she just turned 11. I would say maybe there is a focus thing going on and a burn out faze happening. I don't mean anything but 7 days in a week and she is working 5-6 days and just turned 11. Don't get me wrong they need to practice and work but at a young age you have to becareful. IMO 1 hr or even 45 min. to long for that age.

I don't push her... I don't hold her back either..... Is that wrong? The other day she knew we had team practice, and it was going to be ALL baseruning work, so she wasn't going to get any pitching time.... so she talked her mother into going in the basement with her to keep track of her "hits" on the target.... I think she just like someone around when she practices to keep her company.

When I first found this forum, one of the questions I asked is how much is too much... and the most popular response was...as often as she wants to......so that's what I go by. Practices vary from 15 minutes to live hitters in game situations at practice, to an hour + in the basement pitching a simulated game, with hitting work between innings. Others are 45 minutes. Some are a half hour. We have no set routine. I think that keeps her interested. Not the same old thing every time.

 

[FrozenRope]

This ^^^^^^ is what got my DD a pars fracture in her back last winter/spring (5 days a week at an hour+ and on top of that lots of BP).

Every girls is an individual but BE CAREFUL!!

Thanks for the advice. Last thing I want is for her to get an overuse injury. That's why we spend the majority of her practice time in the basement. I glued a fatigue mat to the basement floor and covered it with outdoor carpet and mounted a rubber. I figure that would absorb some a lot of the routine impact to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the lower body.

 

[MandM]

My 2 cents:
First I think this coach was inappropriate in the way she behaved- particularly for a girl your DD's age. I'll just get that out there.
I sense ambivalence however, from you, in that you have searched and perhaps this person technically is the only one in your area who is teaching the style you want your DD to learn. SO I guess the question becomes- can you salvage/rebuild/establish new relationship with this coach.
before I would even consider taking my DD back, I would want a one-on-one meeting with the coach to discuss what happened- your take and hers to see if there is any common ground to work from- it sounds like this PC maybe clueless as to the impact of her behavior, and clearly if she is like "my way or the highway" your way forward is pretty clear. If however, she seems surprised, backs it down, and was like " well it was not my intent to be disparaging or dismissive" or "I see so much potential with your DD this is why I am hard on her" - it seems that you might be able to establish new ground rules- being more firm on the ending time, trying a different route or drill if something's not working; in other words, setting boundaries for your daughter based on what you know as a parent will work for her.

That being said, before even doing that, you need to talk with your DD- about how she would feel going back to the PC. We recently have taken a break from a coach because DD was struggling a bit at lessons, and on the way home, DD remarked to me that she did not feel that the PC believed in her anymore, and honestly, I felt the negative vibe as well. If your DD does not feel the coach believes in her, or is disturbed by the PC's attitude, then it certainly WILL be difficult for your DD to learn from this instructor, even if her what she is teaching is mechanically correct.

 

[Classof2020]

I don't know that I really have anything helpful to add to this conversation other than it just sounds like it's not a good fit and not a great relationship for your daughter. There are times when I wish our coach was a tad more organized, or nailed down in exactly the perfect form that she was trying to communicate. But I tell you what after listening to this I am glad to have a slightly young and still learning coach who believes in my daughter, builds her up constantly, tells her "when you're pitching in college you better get me tickets", etc. My DD would do anything to please this gal because there has never been any attitude other than you are learning and I am teaching you and let's keep pushing to the next level.

I would say don't assume there isn't a good coach out there. She might be better with someone younger and less experienced who has a great attitude and is excited to be your daughter's cheerleader.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

MY dd's lessons have always been at 30mins. Maybe 40 if its good.

Find another coach. Let your dd see if she likes the new coach. If so, stay with the new one. If not, then go back to being abused.....

 

[FrozenRope]

MY dd's lessons have always been at 30mins. Maybe 40 if its good.

Find another coach. Let your dd see if she likes the new coach. If so, stay with the new one. If not, then go back to being abused.....

My Wife talked to her today about the whole episode. I already know the answer to the question I'll ask her some time in the next month or so..... she does not want to go back.

I'm going to work with her myself for the next few weeks. Anyone have any good sites/advice for teaching the flip change? Is it something we can work on sans pitching coach?

 

[Taxi]

I have found lots of great information on this site for various pitches. We recently changed pitching coaches but had a 3 month lull in between. It was nice in a way to not have to be at lessons or watch my D's face as her PC gave instruction on something we had been correcting at home.


We visited a different PC and watched a lesson. We were both impressed and decided to schedule a one time lesson. Needless to say we were impressed and have our spot now.

 

[softball_mom#7]

Hey Frozenrope, check your pms.

 

[FrozenRope]

Well, we found someone to work with DD. She's a former D3 College pitcher that works with a few of the local girls. She doesn't have a facility, so she comes to us, which is incredibly convenient. I like her a lot. She seems to know what she's talking about, and has already come up with some great observations about why DD sometimes struggles with consistency. And she has a great presence about her of getting DD to do what she wants her to do. Funny enough, it's something the prior PC never picked up on, and is miniscule in scale to the overall motion. The other plus is, she literally takes DD through an entire pitching workout. About 90 minutes from warm up to cool down. But many of those 90 minutes are talking during breaks. She's been with DD twice so far, and what I really liked is the conversation during breaks regarding how she did in her games since the last visit. A lot of the conversation was around the mental part of the game...Asking how she felt when she hit a spot, and what she thought about after missing. Not a typical pitching coach I'm sure, but DD likes her and I think she's going to get a LOT from her. She even gave DD her cell number and told her to text her after each game to let her know how she did. I can tell she does this for "Love of the Game" as opposed to for the financial benefit.

She told me on the side that she'd like to start working with her on a movement pitch. Aside from the peel drop, she said the DropCurve is a great movement pitch to start with as it has a lot of room for error. Her intention is to show her both, and then focus on the one she takes to more naturally. Any thoughts on this?